Economy in Brief: September 2016

Initial claims for unemployment insurance edged up to 260,000 (-3.3% y/y) in the week ending September 10 from an unrevised 259,000 in the prior week. The four-week moving average eased to 260,750. The Action Economics Forecast Survey [...]

Industrial output declined 0.4% during August (-1.1% y/y) following a 0.6% July increase, revised from 0.7%. It was the first production decline in three months and compared to a 0.2% shortfall expected in the Action Economics [...]

Total business inventories decreased ever so slightly, -0.04% (+0.5% y/y), in July; June's 0.2% rise was unrevised. Total business sales slipped -0.2% (-0.8% y/y), pausing after June's 1.0% gain, which was revised from 1.2%. Retail [...]

Total retail sales & spending at restaurants fell 0.3% during August (+1.9% y/y) following a 0.1% July uptick, revised from little change. Expectations had been for a 0.1% slip in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Auto sales led [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its total Mortgage Market Volume Index increased 4.2% (43.0% y/y) last week following a 0.9% rise. Purchase applications surged 8.6% (20.9% y/y) and made up declines during July and [...]

Euro Area IP has fallen relatively sharply in July. The 1.1% drop matches the 1.1% drop in May with a 0.9% gain for June sandwiched in-between. Output has been see-sawing in the Euro-Area over the last five months. Still, it is lower [...]

Import prices eased 0.2% during August (-2,2% y/y) following an unrevised 0.1% July gain. The rise compared to expectations for no change in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These figures are not seasonally adjusted. A 2.8% [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department reported a Federal budget deficit of $107.1 billion during August. That compared to a $64.4 billion deficit in August of last year. A $100 billion deficit had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast [...]